Pizza Quest Heritage Radio Network

This week's guest is a long time friend of mine (we go back to 7th grade together, circa 1963), Tim Lorsch, Nashville musician/sideman, who has created a one-man performance piece called "The Suitcase." The show was inspired when Tim unexpectedly received an old suitcase that had formerly belonged to his great uncle before being sent to Auschwitz, where he was killed by the Nazis. The suitcase triggered a flood of family memories and emotions, so Tim packaged it all into a one hour performance and has been taking it on the road, performing it in venues across the country. You'll learn all about it when you join us in this episode of Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart. You'll also learn a lot about "looping," a technique Tim uses to layer his music into overlapping montages used in the show and, also, in his recordings in general.

Note: If you would like Tim to bring The Suitcase to your town, you can write to him at info@thesuitcase.world.

Peter's brother Harry was with Peter the day they discovered Pizzeria Beddia about eight years ago. They watched together as Joe Beddia rocketed to superstardom in the pizza world (not because of us, but our timing was pretty good). So, when Harry called Peter a few weeks ago, excited to have found "the next Pizzeria Beddia," he was taken very seriously.

Harry then introduced Peter to Dave Ravanesi, the founder and solo pizzaiolo of Ravanesi Pizza Napoletana in Glen Mill, PA, just outside of Philadelphia. Ravanesi's is currently one of the worst kept secrets in Philly, in that word of mouth is rapidly spreading the rave reviews without the help of any social media. By the time you read this, it will probably be even harder to get a pizza there, but the key is to call a day ahead and order your "dough(s)" before you show up. Without that, fahgetaboudit (though he sometimes has extra doughs available for newbies who didn't know any better). Here's the number: (484) 840-8912. Tell whoever answers that you heard about them here on Pizza Quest (that and about $25 bucks should get you a dough ball, soon transformed into a pizza).

Before you go, be sure to listen to this conversation, in which Dave and I digress all over the map; from pizza, to jujitsu, to country rock (yes, he's also a published song writer), to the passion, dedication, and drive it takes to become a true craftsman. Hey, act quickly; the secret is out...

Welcome back to Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart. Our guest this week is Domenico Tolomeo, World Pizza Champions team member, owner of Taglio Pizza in Minneola, NY, and corporate chef for Orlando Foods (importers of Caputo Flour and many other made-in-Italy food products). Domenico, affectionately known in the industry as Mimmo, shares with us his journey from paying his dues during his years as a deli meat guy who then fell in love with pizza, to being mentored by Roberto Caporuscio at Keste in NYC, to now mentoring others. It's the great American success story, and Mimmo is its newest poster boy.

In this episode we welcome Paul Tiffany, director of product engineering at Lloyd Pans, to update us on the latest new pan pizza products and to explain the unique manufacturing process that allows Lloyd Pans to respond and customize pans so quickly for the pizza and other food service industries. He also shows us a very cool new product for making handheld Detroit-style pizzas, about the size of a hotdog or burrito, that holds great promise as a concert or ballpark product. I actually made a pizza in this pan after we recorded the interview and I'm very excited about its frico-laden possibilities. Find out all about this, and learn more than you ever knew about pans, in this new episode of Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart.

Welcome back to a new episode of Pizza Quest with Peter Reinhart. A recurrent theme in our shows during these past few months has been the emergence and growth of the Women in Pizza movement, and this week's guest is one of the key driving forces in all of this. Ironically, Anna Crucitt didn't start out as a pizzaiola, but as a gelato queen. At Mercurio's Creamery and Pizzeria, she and her brothers, Joe and Michael, are makers of both award winning artisan gelato and Neapolitan pizzas at their two locations in Fox Chapel and Shadyside in Pittsburgh. Together, they continue the family legacy begun by their parents, and have taken Mercurio's to new heights while honing their pizza craft through international competitions.

Mercurio's is now voted in many polls as the best pizza in Pittsburgh. But Peter loves ice cream and gelato almost as much as pizza, so no conversation with Anna is complete without diving into her journey through gelato and how it led her back to pizza. This episode was recorded at the 2024 International Pizza Expo, where Anna made presentations as a brand ambassador for the Women in Pizza organization, along with a number of other truly remarkable pizzaiolas who we have featured here previously. We cover it all in this episode of Pizza Quest.

Our guest in this episode is long-time world pizza champion, Joe Carlucci. So, you might ask, how did a nice New York area kid end up running an iconic, destination pizzeria, Valentina's Pizzeria and Wine Bar, in Madison, Alabama? It's a long story, and one best told by Joe himself, including the many life lessons that allowed him to crash and burn (and rise from the ashes) many times. On his journey, he finally found the right work/life balance while dialing in on the formula that has established Valentina's as a role model for the next generation of pizzeria operators. Joe explains it all in this fun conversation with Peter, here on Pizza Quest.